www.maderatribune.comServing the Heart of California since 1892http://www.maderatribune.com/node/4441/atom.xml2015-03-31T21:33:35+00:00http://www.maderatribune.com/columns/realignment-effects-not-bad-yet2013-02-24T06:57:04+00:002013-02-26T05:04:57+00:00Realignment effects not bad yetwebmaster

As crime statistics for 2012 gradually filter in from around the state, gripes about the 15-month-old prison realignment program have begun rising in newspaper headlines and talk show airwaves.

There are two major complaints: One is that crime rose as realignment cut the inmate populace by more than 24,000. The other is that some criminals are being released earlier than similar criminals were before the program began in October 2011, in part because local jails in a few counties are overcrowded.

A typical gripe comes from Tyler Izen, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the state’s largest police union. “Our members are terribly concerned that we are allowing people out of prisons who are likely to recommit crimes and victimize the people of our city,” he said in a telephone interview.

He claimed probation departments have lost track of some former prisoners, but could offer no specific examples. “All I have is anecdotal information,” he conceded...